After fourteen races of the season, Max Verstappen has twelve victories, two second places, six best laps and two first and one third place in sprints. There is no doubt that the Red Bull Racing driver will win a third consecutive championship title this year, but when Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton will not even have a mathematical chance of winning?
After the race in Monza, Max Verstappen’s account was 364 points and the lead over Sergio Perez grew to 145 points. In the remaining eight Grands Prix, three of which include sprints in Qatar, the US and Brazil, 232 points can be earned (26 each in a regular weekend and 34 in a sprint weekend). In the next stage in Singapore, Max cannot guarantee himself the title. Even if he wins the race and shows the best lap, and Sergio doesn’t earn any points, his lead will grow to 171 points, leaving 206 points in the draw.
But Max can already win a third title at the Japanese Grand Prix. After the Suzuka stage, there are still 180 points to be earned in the remaining races, so if Verstappen manages to win back a further nine points from Perez in Japan after winning the best lap and retiring in Singapore, he will become world champion in 2023.
In other words: Verstappen has to earn 35 points more than Perez in the next two races – and then Max can celebrate the title in Suzuka. If this does not happen, the battle will continue in Qatar in early October.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
